The Colonels' Coup and the American Embassy: A Diplomat's View of the Breakdown of Democracy in Cold War Greece by Robert V. Keeley

Author:Robert V. Keeley [Keeley, Robert V.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: International Relations, Greece, Historical, Diplomacy, Europe, Modern, Biography & Autobiography, 20th Century, Political Science, History, Political
ISBN: 9780271037585
Google: -BPrCgAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 10180301
Publisher: Penn State University Press
Published: 2010-12-22T00:00:00+00:00

A Visit by Nixon

Our first VIP visitor after the coup was Richard Nixon. I was assigned as his escort or control officer, most probably because no one else cared for the job. Although he was then already gearing himself up for the 1968 campaign for the Republican presidential nomination (by traveling around the world and getting his name in the papers), he had been all but counted out of politics for the past five years, and no one gave him much of a chance to make a comeback. His visit to Athens had originally been scheduled for a date that fell immediately after the coup, and on learning of the coup Nixon had telegraphed the ambassador offering to postpone his arrival if Talbot thought it best, or to come ahead if Talbot thought he could contribute something helpful in the new situation. Talbot suggested postponement, and when Nixon arrived in Athens in mid-June (accompanied by Pat Buchanan, his press agent and later his speechwriter), Talbot had departed for Washington on consultation to be followed by home leave. Nixon and Buchanan stayed at the residence in the ambassador’s absence.

For about two and a half days I stayed at Nixon’s elbow, trying to make things run smoothly. I was not at his elbow the whole time, obviously; among other things, he had lunch at Tatoi alone with Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie. Nixon was a remarkably easy visitor to handle, except for one facet: Buchanan apparently had no authority to make the least decision by himself, but had to check out everything with the boss, even permission to pay for a cable of greetings to a convention of Young Republicans meeting in some place like Topeka, the cable costing all of three dollars, if I recall correctly. Nixon impressed me as a person who made all the decisions affecting his life by himself, the big ones as well as the minutiae. I wondered if, were he ever elected president, he would be capable of delegating any authority.

Anschuetz was the chargé in Talbot’s absence and decided to host a reception where Nixon could meet some of the key figures in the new regime as well as some prominent political figures from the precoup days, all gathered together in Anschuetz’s garden. The guests naturally split into two hostile groups, having nothing to do with each other, not even exchanging greetings. There was some anger at Anschuetz for having placed them all in an uncomfortable situation, but only a man of Anschuetz’s personality could have pulled it off. It was the first, last, and only occasion under American auspices at which members of the regime and a significant number of the leading ex-politicians appeared together; ever afterward opponents of the regime would telephone the Embassy’s protocol office when receiving an official American invitation to make sure that no members of the “junta” would be present before they would agree to attend.

Following the reception Anschuetz hosted a small stag dinner—about ten guests—for Nixon. Talk at the table

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